This collection documents the Atlanta Student Movement during the Civil Rights Era. It highlights student activism in the Atlanta University Consortium (AUC); Clark College, Morris Brown, Morehouse College, Atlanta University, and Spelman College. The collection includes newspaper and journal articles, flyers, reports, photographs, and correspondence by and about students from the AUC schools. Of note are copies of An Appeal for Human Rights written by student leaders, which set forth the student's grievances, rights, and aspirations as well as their dissatisfaction with the status quo conditions of segregation and discrimination and the slow pace at which inherent human and civil rights were being meted out to African Americans. The Appeal was published as a full-page ad in the March 9, 1960 editions of the Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Journal, and Atlanta Daily World. It was subsequently published in the New York Times, providing national awareness of student activism in the civil rights struggle in Atlanta. The issuance of the Appeal was followed by sit-ins and pickets at specifically targeted businesses, government and transportation facilities in Atlanta and Fulton County, Georgia, and kneel-ins at churches. The participants in the Atlanta student movement organized commemorative reunions, 1990 and 2000 to re-examine the civil rights movement and discuss current efforts and projections for the future. Programs, minutes, correspondence, and news articles from the reunions are included in the collection. At the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library, we are always striving to improve our digital collections. We welcome additional information about people, places, or events depicted in any of the works in this collection. To submit information, please contact us at DSD@auctr.edu.
Aug 24, 2023

Atlanta Student Movement Collection

This collection documents the Atlanta Student Movement during the Civil Rights Era. It highlights student activism in the Atlanta University Consortium (AUC); Clark College, Morris Brown, Morehouse College, Atlanta University, and Spelman College. The collection includes newspaper and journal articles, flyers, reports, photographs, and correspondence by and about students from the AUC schools. Of note are copies of An Appeal for Human Rights written by student leaders, which set forth the student's grievances, rights, and aspirations as well as their dissatisfaction with the status quo conditions of segregation and discrimination and the slow pace at which inherent human and civil rights were being meted out to African Americans. The Appeal was published as a full-page ad in the March 9, 1960 editions of the Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Journal, and Atlanta Daily World. It was subsequently published in the New York Times, providing national awareness of student activism in the civil rights struggle in Atlanta. The issuance of the Appeal was followed by sit-ins and pickets at specifically targeted businesses, government and transportation facilities in Atlanta and Fulton County, Georgia, and kneel-ins at churches. The participants in the Atlanta student movement organized commemorative reunions, 1990 and 2000 to re-examine the civil rights movement and discuss current efforts and projections for the future. Programs, minutes, correspondence, and news articles from the reunions are included in the collection.

At the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library, we are always striving to improve our digital collections. We welcome additional information about people, places, or events depicted in any of the works in this collection. To submit information, please contact us at DSD@auctr.edu.
196 Objects displayed
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Written on recto: Riders still segregated. Whites and Negroes are still segregated on this Atlanta Transit Co. trolley today following the Supreme Court's decision outlawing segregation on all public buses. State officials said that Georgia was not a party to the South Carolina Legal Action and hence would not be immediately affected. City Attny.. Jack Savage said Atlanta has no ordinance actually requiring segregation but does have an ordnance requiring those in charge of buses and trolley to obey the st[?]e segregation laws.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
"Riders Still Segregated", April 23, 1956
Date Created
1956-04-23
Description
Written on recto: Riders still segregated. Whites and Negroes are still segregated on this Atlanta Transit Co. trolley today following the Supreme Court's decision outlawing segregation on all public buses. State officials said that Georgia was not a party to the South Carolina Legal Action and hence would not be immediately affected. City Attny.. Jack Savage said Atlanta has no ordinance actually requiring segregation but does have an ordnance requiring those in charge of buses and trolley to obey the st[?]e segregation laws.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta, African Americans--Segregation, Race discrimination
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Written on recto: Atlanta, January 10, 1957. Ministers Hauled to Jail in Paddy Wagon. Five Negro ministers leave the paddy wagon at police station today after being hauled to jail on charges that they violated Georgia segregation laws in occupying public bus seats up front which are normally reserved for white passengers. Second from left is their leader, the Rev. William Holmes Borders. They were jailed temporarily until they posted $1,000 bond each.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
"Ministers Hauled to Jail", 1957
Date Created
1957
Description
Written on recto: Atlanta, January 10, 1957. Ministers Hauled to Jail in Paddy Wagon. Five Negro ministers leave the paddy wagon at police station today after being hauled to jail on charges that they violated Georgia segregation laws in occupying public bus seats up front which are normally reserved for white passengers. Second from left is their leader, the Rev. William Holmes Borders. They were jailed temporarily until they posted $1,000 bond each.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, Race discrimination, African American men, African American clergy, Detention of persons
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Written on recto: Negro leaders jailed for bus ride. Sitting behind bars in city jail today are five Negro clergymen arrested on charges that they violated Georgia's segregation laws. At the right is their leader, the Rev. William Holmes Borders. They were in jail pending the posting of $1,00 bond each. The arrests resulted from a group of some 20 Negro ministers occupying public bus seats up front which are customarily reserved for White customers.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
"Negro Leaders Jailed for Bus Ride", January 10, 1957
Date Created
1957-01-10
Description
Written on recto: Negro leaders jailed for bus ride. Sitting behind bars in city jail today are five Negro clergymen arrested on charges that they violated Georgia's segregation laws. At the right is their leader, the Rev. William Holmes Borders. They were in jail pending the posting of $1,00 bond each. The arrests resulted from a group of some 20 Negro ministers occupying public bus seats up front which are customarily reserved for White customers.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, Race discrimination, African American men, African American clergy, Detention of persons
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
A woman and man get placed in a police paddy wagon.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Woman and Man Detained, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
A woman and man get placed in a police paddy wagon.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, Race discrimination, Detention of persons, African American student movements
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Students enter the House Gallery.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Entering House Gallery, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Students enter the House Gallery.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Portrait of Dr. Mary Ann Sumerall.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Dr. Mary Ann Sumerall, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Portrait of Dr. Mary Ann Sumerall.
Subject
African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta, African American women
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
A man relaxes on a couch and reads a newspaper next to his suitcase.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Man on Couch, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
A man relaxes on a couch and reads a newspaper next to his suitcase.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta, African American men
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Written on accompanying slide: From Atlanta. Negroes Leave Bus After Mixed Ride. Negro clergymen stand around the front door of a public bus in Atlanta just after riding it with disregard for segregated seating regulations. When they began getting off, the driver asked them to leave by rear door. They declined and alighted through the front door. during their ride of about 36 blocks, some occupied seats up front with white passengers seated behind them. That's contrary to transit company regulations.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Clergymen Leaving Bus Ride, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Written on accompanying slide: From Atlanta. Negroes Leave Bus After Mixed Ride. Negro clergymen stand around the front door of a public bus in Atlanta just after riding it with disregard for segregated seating regulations. When they began getting off, the driver asked them to leave by rear door. They declined and alighted through the front door. during their ride of about 36 blocks, some occupied seats up front with white passengers seated behind them. That's contrary to transit company regulations.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, Race discrimination, African American men, African American clergy
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
A crowd gathers in the rain at Morris Brown College Stadium.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Morris Brown Stadium, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
A crowd gathers in the rain at Morris Brown College Stadium.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta, Special events
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
A group of protesters stand outside of a theatre on the sidewalk holding signs that read: "We're Willing to Die, But Not For Segregation", and "Negroes in Berlin? Yes, Negroes in the Dinkler? No".
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Protest Line, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
A group of protesters stand outside of a theatre on the sidewalk holding signs that read: "We're Willing to Die, But Not For Segregation", and "Negroes in Berlin? Yes, Negroes in the Dinkler? No".
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, Race discrimination
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Students protest discriminatory hiring practices outside of an Atlanta grocery store. One student holds a sign that reads: "If We Can't Work There, Why Trade? Selective Buying Makes for Better Employment".
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Students Picketing Stores, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Students protest discriminatory hiring practices outside of an Atlanta grocery store. One student holds a sign that reads: "If We Can't Work There, Why Trade? Selective Buying Makes for Better Employment".
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Students march in the rain in downtown Atlanta.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Students March, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Students march in the rain in downtown Atlanta.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Students stand at the receptionists desk in the office of the governor.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Students at the Governor's Office, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Students stand at the receptionists desk in the office of the governor.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
A man holds a sign protesting an integrated movie with other protesters and police around him.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Integrated Movie Protest, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
A man holds a sign protesting an integrated movie with other protesters and police around him.
Subject
Race discrimination
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Julian Bond speaks to reporters.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Julian Bond, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Julian Bond speaks to reporters.
Subject
African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta, African American civil rights workers
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Atlanta University student John Gibson protests outside of a business with a sign that reads: "Make Democracy Work! At Least in Our Community".
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
John Gibson Protesting, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Atlanta University student John Gibson protests outside of a business with a sign that reads: "Make Democracy Work! At Least in Our Community".
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
A group of Atlanta University Center students stand in line inside Sprayberry's Cafeteria as White customers look on.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Sprayberry's Cafeteria, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
A group of Atlanta University Center students stand in line inside Sprayberry's Cafeteria as White customers look on.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta, Special events, African American students
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
Student SNCC group gathers at the door of Georgia House of Representatives George L. Smith's office. Written on recto: door to Geo. Smith's office - open but they don't get in.
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
SNCC Students, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
Student SNCC group gathers at the door of Georgia House of Representatives George L. Smith's office. Written on recto: door to Geo. Smith's office - open but they don't get in.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, African American student movements, African Americans--Georgia--Atlanta
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
A woman holds a sign in protest downtown reading: "Segregation is the shame of Atlanta".
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
"Segregation is the Shame of Atlanta", circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
A woman holds a sign in protest downtown reading: "Segregation is the shame of Atlanta".
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Protest movements, Race discrimination
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
White men and children hold protest signs reading: "Don't Push Our Children Out the Back Door and Let the Communists Thru the Front Door", "We Belong Advancement of White People", and "Segregation Was Planned Long Before Supreme Court Justices Were Born".
Atlanta Student Movement Collection
White Men and Children With Signs, circa 1960
Date Created
1957/1963
Description
White men and children hold protest signs reading: "Don't Push Our Children Out the Back Door and Let the Communists Thru the Front Door", "We Belong Advancement of White People", and "Segregation Was Planned Long Before Supreme Court Justices Were Born".
Subject
Race discrimination
Collection
Atlanta Student Movement Collection